Director Rodrigo Garcia Saiz of Boxer Films, Los Angeles, gets literal in the provocative (and bloody) new :60 “If You Drink, Don’t Drive” for Coexistence without Violence out of the Mexican agency Anónimo. Coexistence without Violence emerged in 2005 out of a movement that aims to promote a culture of legality, safety and health among young adults.
Produced by Saiz’s Mexico City-based Central Films, the spot opens on a dimly lit alley with a neon blue “Bar” sign on one side and a parked car on the other. As the bar’s double doors swing open, energetic dance music spills out along with four drunken men and women. Both women and one of the men laugh and dance their way into the car, taking their places in the passenger seats. Upon closing the car doors, the remaining man casually walks around back to his trunk where he pulls out a loaded shotgun. One after another, he dispassionately shoots each of his friends, their blood splattering across the windows. He then walks to the driver’s side where a super appears, “It doesn’t matter how. Killing your friends is killing your friends.”
The spot closes with the tag, “If you drink, don’t drive,” as the man starts the car and drives away.
SUPERLATIVE Signs Director Claudia Abend For Spots and Branded Content
Latin American director/editor and documentary filmmaker Claudia Abend has joined SUPERLATIVE for her first U.S. representation spanning commercials and branded content.
Abend's empathetic docu-style POV has garnered several international awards for the documentary films Hit (2008) and The Flower of Life (2018). Her spotmaking credits include such brands as Procter & Gamble, Nestle and Blue Cross/Blue Shield. SUPERLATIVE has already worked with Abend, together producing a new ad campaign for digital agency Tinuiti and The Honest Company, a consumer goods corporation featuring eco-minded products.
“We found Claudia through her poignant documentaries on the festival circuit,” said SUPERLATIVE creative manager Stefan Dezil. “We are excited about her textured narratives, emotional storytelling, and her powerhouse long-form storytelling abilities, currently on her third feature film. As SUPERLATIVE continues to build our brand after premiering our latest films at Sundance and SXSW, Claudia is the kind of multidimensional artist we are excited to partner with on branded content and beyond. Fluent in English and Spanish, her reel shows real prowess with infants, food and skin products, families both young and old. Great visual storytelling and inspirational doc work.”
Abend began her career in her native Uruguay, studying film and editing in college. “My dad would show me films like Citizen Kane,” she said. “I love cinema and became an editor. It was here that I learned all about communicating human emotion.”
From the get-go, Abend hit it big as a documentary director, teaming with Adrianna Loeff on Hit, a movie chronicling pop artists of Uruguayan music. Abend took home a Best Editing... Read More